Some positive and some negative. I went to Guest Services at our
resort to inform them that Andrew couldn't have lactose products and
asked if they could at least have some Lactaid milk for the Cinderella
breakfast. The Cast Member called over to the restaurant and they
said NO. After he hung up he suggested that Andrew "just drink
something else." (So during our 11 days there, if they don't make
it available anywhere in the park, I assume, where is my child supposed
to get any calcium?) Obviously we bought Andrew some milk at a store
so he could have some, but I was very unhappy. When we came to the Cinderella
breakfast, though, I did mention it again and the chef came out and
talked with us and he accommodated us by making him essentially celiac
pancakes, I believe with water. At Chef Mickey's, in the Contemporary,
Andrew couldn't eat any of the desserts, so the chef there gave him
rice ice cream and cut some fresh fruit. My final comment? I'm thrilled
that the chefs tried to be very accommodating, but I do think life could
be much easier if at least a few table service restaurants made Lactaid
milk available, especially those open for breakfast. (At home, I make
the same homemade pancakes for everyone, I just use Andrew's milk for
his and the regular for ours; it is really quite simple.)

Kitty
writes about vegetarian foods:

There
are a couple items listed that *aren't* actually vegetarian (as far
as know, based mostly on info from the wonderful book by Susan Shumaker
and Than Saffel): The "vegetable lo mein" from the Lotus Blossum Cafe
in China (Epcot) is made with chicken stock. Also, I'm pretty certain
that everywhere "chili" is mentioned but not specified as "vegetarian
chili" that it is *not* vegetarian. Also, while I'm not sure about the
Yakitori House, your page lists Miso Soup, which is also often made
with chicken stock.

I'm certainly no expert, but I know that some vegetarians are very serious
about making sure they don't eat meat. Your page does, of course, have
a disclaimer about asking CM's, but I thought you might still want to
know. As a vegetarian myself, I've been learning more and more about
"hidden meats" - still amazed that marshmellows aren't vegetarian! (which,
of course, I learned from your wonderful interview with Susan and Than.)

Lisa
Hahn, who follows a low-fat diet, writes:

We
just returned from WDW after another great trip. This trip marked the
first time that we went while I was on a diet.

I took some prepackaged food with me for some of the days, but did need
to fill in with some milk products, fruits and vegetables. We usually
do a lot of sit-down dinners, but this trip we were doing mostly "fast
food."

The first night was a little frustrating -- tried to find a quick side
salad or vegetable in the Boardwalk area. The general store had no salads
in their 'frig, did have fresh fruit, and canned vegetables. We ended
up buying a can of corn, only to find out that we did not have a can
opener in our studio!

The rest of the trip was better. Was happy to find non-fat frozen yogurt
at Sunshine Tree Terrace in Adventureland and at the Roaring Forks in
Wilderness Lodge. The MK Bakery on Main Street had fruit salad. Liberty
Square has fresh fruit, as did each of the parks. The produce area near
Tower of Terror even had carrots! Roaring Forks was also great in that
it had side salads, with FAT FREE dressing! It was great to find that,
as that is totally legal on my diet. It was very frustrating to try
and find Skim milk (which Roaring Forks also had). Most everywhere only
sells whole and 2% milk. That I don't understand! Whole milk is only
3% -- 2% is of no help to me. This is not only at WDW -- I am rarely
able to order skim milk anywhere when we go out.

Desperate for a quick "salad" one night in the MK -- my husband
got a hamburger and fries at the Starlight Cafe, and I used the fixings
bar to make myself a lettuce, tomato, and onion "salad". The
salads they offer there have a lot of extras in them.

We ended up having a great time (of course) and learned a lot more about
the food stands than we knew before. And -- I came home a half pound
lighter (even with my dinners at the castle and Rose and Crown -- my
two "cheats"). I'm not sure if any of this is what you're
looking for on your "special diets" page since it's just me
trying to stick to 1200 cals, but thought I would pass it on.

Ahnalira,
whose family does not eat sugar, but does use fructose and fruit juices
in desserts, shared this letter:

We
returned last month and I got an opportunity to explore new avenues.
I found calling the food management office for each theme park to work
extremely well - they have a person assigned to arranging special dietary
requests.

My
Fairy Godmother was on hand as well - the Guest Relations person at
the Boardwalk Inn that I spoke with just 'happened' to have insulin-dependent
Diabetes (She and I exchanged supportive stories of how used the condition
to help us live healthy). She was helpful above and beyond in contacting
restaurants and requesting special accommodations. We also learned how
well it works to contact the restaurant ourselves.

It
was such a treat when the restaurant would say, "Koan? Oh, yes.
The chef has prepared a delightful special treat for you." The
positive results truly enhanced our experience of WDW throughout our
stay. Next time, we're staying in a concierge room and anticipate ease
and grace in coordinating these accommodations.

Laura
Starnes shares:

I
am diabetic, with heart and kidney problems. I have found it very useful
at wdw to rent a fridge, so I can have fresh fruit in the a.m. in my
room before breakfast. Though we eat (and a lot of regulars do this
too) most breakfasts in our room. It is convenient for those mornings
when we are going to a special breakfast, then mom isn't having a low
blood sugar reaction while waiting in line for character breakfast!

Peggy
Lunt, whose granddaughter has phenylketonuria, writes:

I
wrote you awhile back about my grandaughter Rebecca who has pku. Her
family will be going to Disney the beginning of November. Christy (her
mother) contacted Disney about her special dietary needs and they have
been wonderful. Christy offered to bring the ingredients for her meals
(pasta, wheat starch and other) but they said they can't let her provide
any of the foods, but that they will be glad to purchase them and have
meals for her. There are only 2 stores on the East Coast that handle
her products (most people order their foods by mail) and one is the
Publix Market in Tampa. They said if they have to they will drive to
Tampa to get what she needs. All they need to know is what restaurants
they will be eating in and on what days, so they can have meals ready
for her. Two different chefs from Disney restaurants have already called
Christy and told her not to worry about food, they will do everything
to make their visit a wonderful one. We knew they would be supportive,
but they are going above and beyond what one could expect. They even
contacted the Neumours (sp) Childrens Hospital in Jacksonville, purchased
2 cooks books and have a nutritionist from the hospital standing by
to help with the meal planning. That is all so great. Rebecca is only
2 years old, and we sure hope after all this, she eats everything they
cook, if not, someone at their table surely will so no feeling get hurt.
Both chefs have given Christy their private office phone #'s. The chef
from the Liberty Tree Tavern called her yesterday and said they knew
there were other dietary needs besides diabetes and lactose intolerance,
but no one had every specifically mentioned pku and that all the chefs
are now learning about pku and the special needs of people with it.
Apparently Christy was the first to call about it. He said he would
appreciate any information Christy can give them as they all want to
learn more about it.

Well, this is long enough, but I just wanted to let your know how we
are making out and how great Disney has been about everything.

Cindee
writes:

you
asked for "stories" boy have I got one for you! :)

Fist I have to say - I am allergic to "weird" things - COOKED
onions (not raw), processed apples (cider, pop, juice) and bleach (which
I just found out they spray on lounges in WDW - so now I have something
else to be careful about :). Anyway, I cannot eat a cooked onion (or
any part of a cooked onion) or anything that was made with cooked onions.
But here is what I have found out -

WONDERFUL
Chef Jen at Movies - told me spaghetti sauce is prepared with onion
but not pizza sauce. Also told me almost ANYTHING I wanted could
be made without onion - tuna, etc. All I needed to do was ask. She
even went so far as to say she would call any chef on property,
let them know so they could have something waiting for me. WONDERFUL!

Planet
Hollywood is a different story - I went there and ordered a calzone
with NO ONION - took one bite - guess what? An ONION. Management
did not seem to "get it" that this could be a life threatening
situation - "we can bring you something else". Nope sorry
- you only get one chance a day to kill me. :).

The
character breakfast at Wilderness Lodge - don't believe what you
hear - the eggs have onion in them!!!!!

Hoop
de Doo Revue - the corn is cooked with onion (why I don't know).

I
am not positive but I seem to remember the eggs at Cinderella's
in the castle had onion too.

Basically
what I have learned is not many CM's KNOW what is in what they are serving.
(Which I can understand they serve a lot of different things). What
I have found works best for me is - I eat a lot of hamburgers while
in WDW. I don't eat at buffets anymore - no one seems to know what goes
into the food. I have even called Food and Beverage managers who were
not at all helpful - "what you want me to call the kitchen and
see what they put in the food?". And those same managers have never
even called me back with the information.

I realize I have a "specialized" problem to some degree -
but I would hope that Disney could be more "understanding"
in the future. With the exception on Chef Jen (whom I found in April)
no one has been very helpful. We are headed back to WDW next month -
to Movies again (hope Jen is still there), if you would like an "update"
please let me know.

Aiko
writes:

Hello,
in appreciation for the info you've posted on the wdwig, I wanted to
give you a short report on my experiences there last week.

I also found the Dining reps to range from VERY helpful to not helpful
at all (or some are just not well trained? Some will put me through
to hostess stands, or at least give me the number... others insisted
I could not call restaurants directly).

I was surprised that the California Grill was not that helpful. I called
ahead and was told they can modify something for me on the spot, so
not to worry. What I was offered was their vegetarian sampler plate
but substituting veggie sushi for the polenta (which had cheese in it).
This would have been fine if I was vegan, but it was NOT lowfat (grilled
veggies with oil and the greens had dressing on it). The waitress when
she noticed I was not eating the salad, did to her credit bring me a
bowl of dry greens. But still this wasn't as good an experience as I
had hoped for. Compared to previous visits, my husband wasn't as impressed
by them either....

The Hollywood Brown Derby (I also called ahead) was very prepared and
a very good experience in comparison. The chef came out to discuss options
and made me a veggie pasta dish with garlic and wine, instead of oil.
Not the most exciting dish but nicely done.

We really liked Puck's and ate there twice. (My husband and daughter
are omnimores and he really wanted to go back for dinner to get the
Wiener Schnitzel). Lots of veggie choices, and when requested they had
no trouble leaving off cheese/dressings. The chopped salad and grilled
cheeseless pizza were good. I also tried the pad thai and found it not
too greasy at all although I did splurge and eat some peanuts.... A
big dinner tip is to sit outside, it's much quieter there.

We survived eating lunch at the Rainforest Cafe at the Animal Kingdom
(I really haven't liked them but at this one we had decent service).
Their veggie burger is really decent, I liked it better than the portabello
mushroom sandwich which tends to be greasy. The burger has nuts in it,
according to the menu, but not much that I noticed and was dry grilled.

An out of Disney recommendation is Pebbles in the Crossroads shopping
center. We've eaten there on prior trips and it still seemed to be very
good. Quite a few veggie choices, which is nice.

I
thought I would mention that Wolfgang Puck's uses PEANUT OIL in their
cooking and baking - this was not advertised on a trip in 1998 and we
had a little boy with us who had severe peanut allergies. We had already
ordered our food and sat down (chicken and fries for the little one)
and suddenly realized we better go ask! So, after telling him not to
eat for a moment while we checked, they informed us that they use peanut
oil - even in the pizza crust! Needless to say, McDonald's had not even
opened up yet at the Marketplace so we had to feed the little guy popcorn
until we got back to our Ft. Wilderness Cabin!!! Just thought I would
let you know to pass onto your readers to ALWAYS ask, just because they
don't say they use peanut oil (as they should in bold letters), does
not mean that they don't!!!